Abstract
Desert Truffles of the African Kalahari: Ecology, Ethnomycology, and Taxonomy. The Khoisan people of the Kalahari Desert have used truffles for centuries. The extreme conditions in which desert truffles grow means that they fruit only sporadically when adequate and properly distributed rainfall occurs, and then only where suitable soil and mycorrhizal hosts occur. Truffles are hunted in the Kalahari by men and women; they look for cracks in the soil, often humped, caused by expansion of the truffles, which are then extracted with hands or digging sticks. The truffles are eaten raw or cooked (boiled, roasted over fire, or buried in hot ashes). Commercial harvest of Kalahari truffles has increased in the last decade and the quantities harvested have been observed to be declining where livestock have been concentrated.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Alcocks, J. P. H. 1953. Veld Types of South Africa. Union of South Africa Department of Agriculture Botanical Survey Memoir 28:1–192.
Alsheikh, A. M. 1994. Taxonomy and Mycorrhizal Ecology of the Desert Truffles in the Genus Terfezia. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.
——— and J. M. Trappe, 1983. Desert Truffles: The Genus Tirmania. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 81:83–90.
Awamah, M. S. 1981. The Response of Helianthemum salicifolium and H. ledifolium to Infection by the Desert Truffle Terfezia boudieri. Mushroom Science 11:843–853.
——— and A. Alsheikh, 1979. Laboratory and Field Study of Four Kinds of Truffle (Kamah), Terfezia and Tirmania Species, for Cultivation. Mushroom Science 10:507–517.
——— and A. Alsheikh. 1980. Features and Analysis of Spore Germination in the Brown Kamè (Terfezia claveryi). Mycologia 72:494–499.
Bayly, I. A. E. 1999. Review of How Indigenous People Managed for Water in Desert Regions of Australia. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 82:17–25.
Beaton, G. W. and G. Weste. 1982. Australian Hypogaean Ascomycetes. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 79:455–468.
Ceruti, A. 1960. Iconographiae mycologicae ab. J. Bresadolae suppl. 2. Trento, Italy.
Chatin, A. 1984. La truffe. Editions Slatkine, Genèva, Paris. Reprint of a work first published by Baillière, Paris, in 1892.
Doidge, E. M. 1950. The South African Fungi and Lichens to the End of 1945. Bothalia 5:1094.
Ferdman, Y., S. Aviram, N. Roth-Bejerano, J. M. Trappe, and V. Kagan-Zur. 2005. Phylogenetic studies of Terfezia pfeilii and Choiromyces echinulatus (Pezizales) Support New Genera for Southern African Truffles: Kalaharituber and Eremiomyces. Mycological Research 109:237–245.
Kagan-Zur, V., J. Kuang, S. Tabak, F. W. Taylor, and N. Roth-Bejerano. 1999. Potential Verification of a Host Plant for the Desert Truffle Terfezia pfeilii by Molecular Methods. Mycological Research 103:1270–1274.
Kalotas, A. P. 1996. Aboriginal Knowledge of Fungi. Pages 269–295 in K. Mallet and C. Grgurinovic, eds., Fungi of Australia Vol. 1B, Introduction—Fungi in the Environment. Australian Biological Resources Study, CSIRO Publishing, Canberra, Australia.
Leffers, A. 2003. Gemsbok Bean & Kalahari Truffle. Gamsberg Macmillan, Windhoek, Namibia.
Leistner, O. A. 1967. The Plant Ecology of the Southern Kalahari. Republic of South Africa Botanical Research Institute Botanical Survey Memoir 38:1–172.
Levy, L., Jr. 2008. Meerkat Cuisine. http://www.meerkats.net/info.htm#Meerkat%20cuisine (15 April 2008).
Marasas, W. F. O. and J. M. Trappe. 1973. Notes on Southern African Tuberales. Bothalia 11:139–141.
Marloth, R. 1913. Eumycetes. The Flora of South Africa 1 (11):20–34.
Mattirolo, O. 1922. Osservazioni supra due ipogea della Cirenaica e considerazione intorno ai generi Tirmania e Terfezia. Memoria Reale Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei Ser. 5, 13:544–568.
McLennan, E. I. 1961. Australian Tuberales. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 74:111–117.
Mills, M. G. L. 1990. Kalahari Hyenas. The Blackburn Press, Caldwell, New Jersey.
Mshigeni, K. E. 2001. The Cost of Scientific and Technological Ignorance with Special Reference to Africa’s Rich Biodiversity. University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia.
———, D. Mtango, A. Massele, Y. Mgonda, A. E. Lyamuya, M. Elineema, and S. T. Chang. 2005. Intriguing Biological Treasures More Precious than Gold: The Case of Tuberous Truffles, and Immunomodulating Ganoderma Mushrooms with Potential for HIV/AIDS Treatment. Discovery and Innovation 17:1–7.
Murphy, A. 2007. Southern Africa. Lonely Planet Publications, London.
Nutrition Information Center, University of Stellenbosch. 2008. Vegetable Exchanges – Moderate Potassium (120–200 mg). webhost.sun.ac.za/nicus/RenalList.htm (15 April 2008).
Pagnol, J. 1973. La truffe. L’Imprimerie Aubanel, Avignon, France.
Palmer, E. and N. Pitman. 1961. Trees of South Africa. A. A. Balkema, Cape Town, South Africa.
Pole-Evans, I. B. 1918. Note on the Genus Terfezia, A Truffle from the Kalahari. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 7:117–118.
Rayss, T. 1959. Champignons hypogés dans la regions désertiques d’Israel. Pages 655–659 in Omagiu Lui Traian Savulescu, Academia Republicii Populare Romine, Bucharest, Romania.
Roth-Bejerano, N., Y.-F. Li, and V. Kagan-Zur. 2004. Homokaryotic and heterokaryotic hyphae in Terfezia. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 85:165–168.
Schoeman, A. 2008. A Feast of Fungi. http://www.holidaytravel.com.na/index.php?fArticleId=505 (14 April 2008).
Story, R. 1958. Some Plants Used by San in Obtaining Food and Water. Botanical Survey of South Africa Memoir 30:1–115.
Tanaka, J. 1980. The San Hunter–Gatherers of the Kalahari: A Study in Ecological Anthropology. University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo.
Taylor, F. W. and N. T. Parratt. 1995. The Potential of Non–Timber Forest Products of Botswana. The Sixth Conference of the Australasian Council on Tree and Nut Crops. http://www.newcrops.uq.edu.au/acotanc/papers/taylor.htm (11 June 2008). Lismore, NSW, Australia.
———, D. M. Thamage, N. Baker, N. Roth-Bejerano, and V. Kagan-Zur. 1995. Notes on the Kalahari Desert Truffle, Terfezia pfeilii. Mycological Research 99:874–878.
Thomas, E. M. 1974. The Harmless People. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Trappe, J. M. 1990. Use of Truffles and False–Truffles around the World. Pages 19–30 in M. Bencivenga and B. Granetti, eds., Atti Secondo Congresso Internazionale sul Tartufo, Spoleto. Comunitá Montana dei Monti Martani e del Serano, Spoleto, Italy.
——— and N. S. Weber. 2001. Desert Truffles: The Genus Carbomyces. Harvard Papers in Botany 6:209–214.
———, A. W. Claridge, D. L. Claridge, and L. Liddell. 2008. Desert Truffles of the Australian Outback: Ecology, Ethnomycology, and Taxonomy. Economic Botany 62(3).
———, G. Kovacs, and A. W. Claridge. (n.d.). Comparative Taxonomy of Desert Truffles of the Australian Outback and African Kalahari. Australian Systematic Botany (in press).
Tswalu Kalahari Reserve News, 2008. Fungus mirabilis. http://www.tswalu.com/ViewNews.asp?ID=9 (15 April 2008).
Tulasne, L.-R., and C. Tulasne. 1851. Fungi hypogaei. Frederich Klincksieck, Paris.
Acknowledgements
These studies were supported in part by the U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Forestry Science Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon. Magda Nel of the University of Pretoria granted permission to use the photo of Kalaharituber pfeilii by G. C. A van der Westhuizen and Albert Eicker. Professors Keto Mshigeni, Wilfrid Haacke of the University of Namibia, and Dean Elenimo Khonga of the Botswana College of Agriculture shared valuable insights on the traditions, hunting and native names of Kalahari truffles. Professor David Modise of the University of South Africa provided information and reviewed the manuscript on very short notice. Hein Botha shared his personal knowledge of Kalahari truffles with us, and Rudi Botha provided the photograph of Hendrik Josop holding an unusually large specimen. The South African Department of Agriculture permitted use of Fig. 3.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Trappe, J.M., Claridge, A.W., Arora, D. et al. Desert Truffles of the African Kalahari: Ecology, Ethnomycology, and Taxonomy. Econ Bot 62, 521–529 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-008-9027-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-008-9027-6